Okay folks, it’s been a while since I have messed around with phone wiring so I need someone to help me with this.
I have two imcoming lines, one voice, the other data and fax.
Currently only one jack in the house is wired for both and the rest are wired for voice only. (I will pull the dual line apart to see how I wired it two years ago).
Anyhow, is it universal for the pairs to have the same colors throughout the house? I plan on getting another TV < giggle > and moving my computer up to the small bedroom off my main bedroom for this winter. With the rising costs of heating a home this coming winter I figured I would try to conserve some money as the upstairs remains warmer. Plus, I can probably heat the upstairs quite well with a couple of space heaters and keep the rest of the house around 66 - 67 degrees degrees.
Any other ideas are welcome as well.
Oh and if you are good at describing pulling cable through an existing home, please let me know. I have only one jack upstairs (a tri-level home) and it’s in my main bedroom. I would like to add a jack in the small bedroom where I will be putting my computer.
The colors should be the same throughout the house. In general, red+green is the primary line (line 1 on a two-line phone) and black+yellow is the secondary line. If the second line doesn’t go upstairs, you can drill some holes yourself (ugly, but it works) or get an electrician to run the line inside the walls for you. It’s likely that the phone wiring in your house (unless it’s REALLY old) is four-wire already, just not connected to the second line.
I need more info on how the wiring is set up already to give the best advice, though.
I have heard that when it comes to phone wire color coding, you can’t rely on anything. I would first try what techchick68 says but if that doesn’t work, just try the various two wire pairs until you get a your dial tone.
I am trying to run internet cable, TV cable, and phone through my 2 1/2 level, 40 year old house and what I find is that the easiest thing is to run wires from room to room either through the crawlspace, through the attic, or outside the house; to run them into rooms through closets if they are coming from the attic; and to run them within a room either in the closet or along the baseboard. In theory you can run them through interior (not exterior) walls using a fish tape, but it may be more trouble than it is worth.
To the best of my knowledge, yes there are only 2 pairs run through the house unlike CAT 5.
This is a rental house that was built in the mid 80’s so I am not positive to how the wiring is done. If there are specific things you need to know, I am sure I can come up with some answers to help you help me with my situation.
Since I have two wireless phones, I am not concerned about having my voice line up there, just the data line. Of course it would have to be wired for both
I could just get an extra long cord from the main bedroom, but it’s tacky and well, if it’s not too hard to pull cable through a house then I am all up for it. It would be a fun project for me as I like to do those sorts of things.
Since I have good ties with a cabling company, I probably could get CAT 5 for the same price as standard phone cable if purchased retail. The main reason I would do that is to see if I can get some increase in internet speed (can’t get true DSL or cable here so both are out of the question.) I have a call into the cabling co. so we’ll see.
Because I rent, I will not pay for a company to come in and do it, and I am pretty handy when it comes to things around the house, plus, it would be a good lesson since I am in the computer industry.
If it was built in the 80’s, you almost certainly have standard two-pair wiring throughout the house. If that’s the case, it might be as easy as replacing the jack upstairs with a four-wire jack. (If it’s only a two-wire jack, the line is “live” up there, but not hooked up to anything.) Unscrew the jack upstairs and I’ll bet you’ll find two live lines. Unless the telco did something weird and used a seperate line to hook up your downstairs.
Yeah is right, the easiest way is to go over or under the room. Since it is upstairs, if you have an attic or crawlspace up there, then run the line from your bedroom straight up there, over to the spot on the wall you want it, then drop it back down. Going sideways through walls is impossible without doing some serious sheet rock damage.
Here is a tip I learned works well - use a fishing pole to run the lines. It is bendy, yet rigid enough to poke through insulation and stuff.
As far as wire pairs, that really depends who touched them last. If it original phone co. wiring, it is probably consistent. If not, who knows?
That’s the problem, there are vaulted ceilings in this house. I may try to draw a diagram of the house so you have an idea of what I am dealing with.
Hmm, guess I will do my best to draw a crude plan of the house so it makes it easier to understand.
Hey, if I can get CAT 5 at the same price as retail standard telephone cable, I am gonna do it. Someday this house will have to be rewired anyway I am sure. If I can gain any speed I will be tickled pink.
well I had a horrible time in my new house, that’s 26 years old, with the phone when I first moved in. It seems the people who had it before me had two phone lines. one of the phone lines only ran to one room. of course when I went to get my phone service they hooked up the one going only to one room. I finally got it right by switching the lines on the outside of the house, in MD we have a place that homeowners can do this. my wires where, Blue/white and blue/black(?) for one phone line and orange/white and orange/black(?) for the other.
Typically, getting the wiring between floors with a minimum of plaster damage is the big challenge. On the ground floor, you can usually move wires around in the basement or crawlspace without too much difficulty.
I would suggest two approaches for re-routing phone wires, assuming you prefer to go the “do-it-yourself” route to save money. First, visit an electrical supply store and buy a “fish tape”, which is a long, stiff, springy wire (usually) coiled on a closed plastic reel. You can use this to push or pull wiring from one floor to another with minimum difficulty. Should cost you $10 or $15.
Go into the upstairs bathroom and find where the pipes go into the wall. Ideally, you want to find the “vent stack” area, where there is a large drain pipe (probably 3 or 4 inches diameter) that goes from the very bottom (basement/crawlspace) of the house, right up and through the roof to the open air. Looking at the roof from the outside of the building may help you pinpoint the location. If the vent stack area is relatively easy to get to, you should be able to fish a wire through from the top to the bottom without too much difficulty. If the house is heated by hot air, you may also be able to use the “return” register (where cooler air gets sucked back to the furnace) to run a wire between floors. Just poke a hole in the ductwork near the furnace, pull the wire through, and seal the hole again with caulking, putty, plasticine, or whatever.
Once you’ve got a wire run vertically, the next problem is to route it to the room where you want it to end. Ideally, this would be done in the attic space, but you say you don’t have one. One possibility is the old “staple and paint” route: just staple the wire to the baseboards and paint over it to make it less visible. If you want to get fancier, try taking off the small “quarter round” moulding where the baseboards meet the floor. This will usually reveal a gap where wires can be run, then concealed by replacing the quarter round. You can also drill a hole in this area to go between rooms, and it won’t show up afterwards. A bit of patching goop and a spot of paint will conceal all evidence of your efforts.
Yours is similar to ours. However, there is a closet to the second bedroom in between the master bedroom and my daughter’s bedroom. What the people that had our house before us did was to connect to the existing jack and then run the wire under the baseboard along the outer wall. When they got to the corner meeting the wall that is also my daughter’s closet they drilled a hole a went through. Then through the outer wall of the closet and that’s where they put the jack. Did I explain that very well?
All of the wires are behind furniture, so it doesn’t look unattractive. It looks like it was very easy. I use a similar method when I do my wiring. I never drilled through a wall though, just from an unfinished basement to the first floor. After the first whole, the rest are easy. That first one just scares you, especially with your husband standing behind you saying, “Your going to ruin the carpet. It’s going to look horrible.” So then what you do is wait until he’s at work and then do it. Then it’s too late, the deed is done. Oh sorry. Where was I? Oh, yeah, so don’t be afraid of inconspicuous holes that you might need to drill.